A critical look at the manufacturing of self-loathing via mass media messaging, and what's being done to push back.

1. “YOU’RE THE WORST”
AND OTHER SLOGANS
Thoughts From Within Agency
Walls

2. I’M NOT ONE TO COMPLAIN,
BUT…
I am one to examine.
As such, welcome to an examination of the
manufacturing of self-loathing, and an
exploration of the ways in which we’re
pushing back.

3. INFORMED OPINION:
The western world has lost its collective
marbles over the concept of the personal
aesthetic.
Especially in terms of weight.

4. INARGUABLE FACT:
24 million people suffer from eating
disorders in the United States
Even more disturbing, eating disorders have
the highest mortality rate of any mental
illness.
Information from ANAD.org

5. SIMPLY PUT… BODY IMAGE IS A
PROBLEM IN AMERICA.

6. FROM WHERE DOES THE
PROBLEM STEM?
Although unhealthy obsessions with weight
and assault on body image are issues
brought on by a variety of factors, we can
look to mass media messaging as a major
manufacturer of self-loathing in America.

7. WE SEE BRANDS PAIRED WITH
MESSAGING LIKE THIS
Feeding yourself is not comparable to an
ethical or moral dilemma. It’s time to save
guilt for things that actually warrant it,
friends.

8. AND REPRESENTATIONS OF
BEAUTY LIKE THIS

9. AND IT’S MAKING US FEEL LIKE
THIS
NO SERIOUSLY. CLOSE TO 50% OF PEOPLE WITH
EATING DISORDERS MEET QUALIFICATIONS FOR
DEPRESSION.

10. READY FOR A TRUTH SLAP?
According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD)…
 “The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is
possessed naturally by only 5% of American females”
 “47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose
weight because of magazine pictures”
 “20% of people suffering from anorexia will
prematurely die from complications related to their
eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.”

11. HOW DID
THAT MAKE
YOU FEEL?
PRETTY SLIMY? ME TOO.
SO WHAT ARE WE DOING TO PUSH
BACK?

12. EXAMPLE: DOVE REAL BEAUTY
Over the past several years, Dove has worked to
promote self-love amongst women through its
“Real Beauty” campaign

13. REAL BEAUTY SKETCHES
This past week, they released “Real Beauty Sketches”
In just 4 days, it garnered over 7 million views and generated incredible
buzz in the social sphere

14. WIDESPREAD SOCIAL MEDIA
STIR

15. DIVERSE EDITORIAL
ATTENTION

16. TOP TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH
REAL BEAUTY SKETCHES
CONVERSATION

17. TOP HASHTAGS ASSOCIATED
WITH REAL BEAUTY SKETCHES
CONVERSATION

18. #itsabouttime
#WEAREBEAUTIFUL

19. BUT DOVE ISN’T ALONE
There are still other brands working to
encourage pushing back against the
messaging to which we’ve become all too
accustomed.

20. LOWLOW’S “ADLAND GAL”
Watch the video here

21. EXTENDING THE “ADLAND
GAL” EXPERIENCE
Users can create their own “bad ad” using the Bad Ad App which lives on the
LowLow Facebook page.

22. “YOU ARE NOT A SKETCH”
This ad series more directly calls out the horrific linkage between models as
seen in advertisements and other mass media messaging and eating disorders…
and most impressively, it comes from a modeling agency (Star Models)

23. BRAVO. THIS IS GOOD.
These are truly wonderful steps towards improvements, but
let’s not pretend like things are ok.
I want to see better. I want to see more campaigns like the
ones in the slides before. I want to see more tweets, posts,
and blog posts about loving ourselves as opposed to
working tirelessly to change the things about ourselves that
are already plenty beautiful.

24. BOTTOM LINE:
WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS

25. WE ARE…
SMART. FUNNY. CARING. TALENTED. GIVING.
UNIQUE. EXCITING. WONDERFUL. CAPABLE.
CHARMING. DYNAMIC. WITTY. TOUGH. RESILIENT.
SENSIBLE. LOVING. KIND. POWERFUL. CHEERFUL.
ABSOLUTELY, INCREDIBLY, AND UTTERLY
BEAUTIFUL.
BELIEVE IT. DEMAND CREDIT.
INCITE CHANGE.

26. NEVER
STOP
PUSHING
BACK.

27. KYLIE KAGEN | @KNKAGEN
THANK YOU